CU Medicine aims to reach global top 20 in 10 years

11 Mar 2024 byKanas Chan
Prof Philip Chiu, Dean of Medicine of CUHK, a renowned robotic surgeon who is highly talented in Chinese paintingProf Philip Chiu, Dean of Medicine of CUHK, a renowned robotic surgeon who is highly talented in Chinese painting

The new Dean of Medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CU Medicine), Professor Philip Chiu, aspires to guide the Faculty of Medicine to become one of the global top 20 medical schools in 10 years.

With an air of humility, Chiu reflected on the Faculty’s inspirational leadership of the former Dean, Professor Francis Chan. “Under Professor Chan’s leadership, we became one of the top 30 medical schools in the world in 2022,” said Chiu. “He leaves big shoes to fill, but they are pointed in the right direction.”

As the 9th Dean of Medicine, Chiu sees his mission as guiding the now 43-year-old CU Medicine to become one of the top 20 medical schools in the world at its 50th anniversary.

The success of the Faculty is to the credit of its exceptional team, including Professor Dennis Lo (Recipient of the 2022 Lasker Award), Professor Francis Chan, Professor Henry Chan, Professor David Hui, Professor Tony Mok, Professor Grace Wong, Professor Vincent Wong, and Professor Joseph Sung (Highly Cited Researchers in 2023). On this strong foundation, Chiu is dedicated to recruiting, retaining and developing talents through diversified career advancement opportunities, offering career paths ranging from professorship (teaching, research, or clinical) to roles as lecturers or researchers.

As artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the world, CU Medicine has pioneered the utilization of AI-powered tools in clinical settings, such as AI-assisted colonoscopy for adenoma detection. The curriculum will include a 3-phase course on AI from the next semester. “We aim to expose 21st century physicians to AI early on, providing them with the knowledge and skills necessary for responsible use of AI-powered tools in clinical settings,” emphasized Chiu.

CU Medicine also provides platforms for innovations in research. Under the government’s InnoHK initiative, four centres have been established in Hong Kong Science Park. These include the Centre for Novostics (led by Professor Dennis Lo), Centre for Neuromusculoskeletal Restorative Medicine (co-led by Professor Patrick Yung of the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology and Professor Wood-Yee Chan of the Division of Biomedical Sciences), Microbiota I-Centre (co-led by Professor Francis Chan and Professor Siew Ng), and Multi-Scale Medical Robotics Centre (co-led by Chiu and Professor Samuel Au of the Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering), all of which work in collaboration with world-renowned research institutions.

“Our cross-disciplinary research teams are committed to transforming CU Medicine's cutting-edge innovations for clinical use,” said Chiu. “For example, we have developed medical robots for [minimally invasive] surgery at the Multi-Scale Medical Robotics Centre.”

CU Medicine has established an internationally accredited biobank in the Prince of Wales Hospital in 2023. CU-Med Biobank, together with another facility in South Korea, are the only two biobanks that fulfil international standards in the Asia-Pacific region. “CU-Med Biobank stores clinical and genetic data as well as biospecimens that can generate biomarker information of our local population, making it valuable for a wide range of research. “We plan to expand the biobank to other hospitals in Hong Kong,” Chiu added. “The biobank model can be applied to the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park to support international clinical trials in the Greater Bay Area.”